You Dream of Demons While You Sleep
by Havah Kinny
Summary: SLASH. McFly. When a rogue security guard takes Dougie hostage, Tom begins to question the nature of his feelings for his friend. Meanwhile, Harry worries that his relationship with Danny will crumble under the stress of securing Dougie's safe return.
1. Chapter 1

"Where's Dougie?" Danny walked up to Tom behind the stage as they prepared to go on. "I've been looking for him for almost an hour now…I can't find him."

"Last I saw he went to go change." Tom frowned. "You've really not seen him since?"

"I haven't." Danny shook his head.

"Have you asked Harry?"

"Harry hasn't seen him." Danny shook his head. "Tom, I'm starting to get worried."

"Have you tried calling him?" Tom asked, frowning.

"Yeah, he's not picking up." Danny ran his fingers through his hair, shaking his head again.

"Hey, have you found Dougie yet?" Harry rested his head on Danny's shoulder as he entered the room. "Oh come on, what are the worried looks for, he can't be that far! Just call security, have an alert out for him; he's gotta be in the building."

"Yeah," Danny nodded. "That's probably a good idea."

"I'll go and get someone," Tom offered. He moved towards the door of the room, but before he had a chance to get there, it opened.

"Looking for this?" One of their security guards entered the room, kicking the door shut behind him. He pulled Dougie into the room with him, holding a gun to the young blond's head. Dougie's hands had been tied behind his back and the man had his free hand over Dougie's mouth.

"What are you doing?" Harry asked, being the first one to sober up to the sight.

"What does it look like?" The guard asked. "I'm calling the shots."

"Oh shit…" Danny let out a low gasp. "Look, he's just a kid, ok? Don't hurt him."

"He's 19," the security guard shrugged. "Not _really _a kid anymore, is he?" Dougie let out a muffled whimper as the man jerked him around. "Now shut up and listen; if you do as I say, maybe, just maybe he won't get hurt." The man jammed the gun against the underside of Dougie's throat. Dougie squeezed his eyes shut, trying to stay as brave as possible.

"What do you want?" Danny asked. He didn't like seeing his best friend at risk.

"You," the man jerked his head at Danny. "You are going to go out and tell everyone that the show has been postponed due to sudden illness on Dougie's part. Tell them that he's come down with a bad case of the stomach flu and that this show and the shows for the rest of the week will be rescheduled."

"Consider it done." Danny nodded. "And then?"

"And then little Dougie and I head out of here while you three scrape up ten million in American 5's, 10s and 20s."

"Wait." Tom spoke for the first time. "Tom's right, Dougie's just a kid. Take me instead; I'm worth just the same."

"Didn't you idiots think for even a second that _maybe _I chose Dougie _because_ he's the baby?" The man scoffed. "He's the youngest, he'll bring me the most reassurance. I know that none of you want cute little Dougie to get hurt. Your intentions are noble, Fletcher, but a waste of breath. Dougie will be safe and sound once I get the money and not a minute sooner. Now you two," he gestured to Tom and Harry, "sit down. Jones, do your job. Once I've heard that you're done, I'll take Dougie out of here – remember, one misstep, if you tell _anyone _about any of this, you can say goodbye to him." The man smirked as Danny headed out towards the stage door.

"Dougie," Tom whispered, looking at his friend. "You're going to be ok, alright? We'll do what he says, I promise." Dougie opened his eyes slowly, allowing Tom to read the fear and sadness in the young bassist.

"Shut up, Fletcher." The man shook his head. "Dougie doesn't belong to you right now, you don't have the right to promise him anything."

"He doesn't belong to anyone." Tom stood up. "He's-"

"Sit back down, or do you not understand? Poynter here will pay for any wrong move that you make." Tom sat down again, glaring at the man.

"It's done." Danny came back in, eyes twitching angrily. "The lie has been told, just let Dougie go – we'll give you the money, we promise."

"I'll let him go," the man began, pulling Dougie towards the door, "once I have the money." He pulled the door opened with the hand holding the gun and prepared to leave before turning back around. "Keep your boy Tom in check, he doesn't seem to understand how this works. You do as I say, you get Dougie back alive and well. You start setting toes out of line and bad things start happening to him, things that I can't go back on." With that being said, the man pulled Dougie from the room and down towards the staff parking lot of the venue. He threw Dougie to the ground, keeping the gun on him as he opened the trunk to his car.

"Don't do this," Dougie pleaded. "Please, I-"

"Shut up." Dougie's words were interrupted as the man grabbed a roll of duct tape and wrapped it around Dougie's head three times, silencing him. "You're NOT allowed to tell me what to do or question it." He set the gun down and grabbed Dougie by his bound wrists. "DO NOT struggle, got it?" Dougie nodded, flinching as the man tied a dark bandana over his eyes. Dougie let out a cry of surprise and fear, though it was greatly muffled by the tape as the man grabbed him around the middle and picked him up. As promised, Dougie didn't put up a fight as the man stuffed him into the trunk. The boy flinched as the trunk slammed shut, and he gulped in fear as the car started moving. Everything around him was dark and cramped, just adding to the fear radiating through him. He willed himself not to panic, trying hard to keep calm, but as the car drove further and further away from the things that had once kept him safe, he couldn't keep the fear from taking over, forcing him into the throes of terror.


	2. Chapter 2

The car pulled into a garage and as the door went down, the man went around to the trunk and unlocked it. As he reached in to pull Dougie out, he noticed that the boy was more deadweight than anything and sweat was running down his body. The man lifted Dougie's limp body and carried him through the door into the house. He dragged Dougie into the basement and forced him into a small room. He slammed the door shut behind them and cut the tape away from Dougie's mouth. The boy immediately began gasping for breath – having been locked in the trunk with tape over a major airway had made getting enough air hard for him.

"Shape up." The man reached out, slapping Dougie hard across the cheek. Dougie whimpered at the strike; it had been a complete shock to him, seeing as he was still blindfolded. "There are rules," the man continued. "First off, this is the ONLY room in which you're allowed the freedom of sight." He reached out, removing the cloth from Dougie's eyes and cut his wrists free. The boy blinked, began to rub his wrists and looked around the room, fright clear in his expression. The room was small – no bigger than his walk-in closet, with a shower, sink and toilet. "Second, you're a prisoner now so you'll be treated as one, meaning you wear this." He held up a pair of black sweatpants. "Nothing else, got it?"

"But-" Dougie began.

"No buts. As of now, you'll shower and change, I'll finish explaining things once you're through." The man stood, readying to leave the room. "Do _exactly _as I say or I'll have to hurt you, Dougie, or your friends."

"Ok," Dougie whispered, shaking despite the fact that he had been overheating only seconds earlier.

"Good. Strip down, leave your clothes on the toilet, once I hear the shower water, I'll come in and take them, when you're done, change into your uniform and knock twice on the door. If you take more than 10 minutes, I'll pull you out myself."

"I understand," Dougie whispered, head bowed.

"Good." The man turned, leaving Dougie alone. The boy stripped quickly and entered the shower, letting the cold water beat down on him as he shivered, tears springing to his eyes. He was so scared, so terrified that he wouldn't get out of here alive, that this secluded washroom would be the last thing that he would ever see and he couldn't keep the tears inside of himself any longer. He washed quickly and stepped out of the shower. He pulled the sweats on, shivering, wishing that he had a shirt or a towel even, to offer him a little extra comfort. Dougie took a deep breath and knocked on the door. It opened a second later and the man entered, immediately tying the cloth back over Dougie's eyes.

"Come." The man pulled Dougie from the bathroom, leading him a short ways down the hallway and into a separate room. "Sit down." The man forced Dougie to sit against a wall and a second later, Dougie felt a cold metal shackle lock around his left ankle. "So you don't try to run," the man hissed. He grabbed Dougie's wrists and bound them together, this time in front of the boy's body. "Now, the rest of the rules, are you ready?" Dougie said nothing, figuring that he didn't have a say in the matter anyways. "I asked you a question, boy!" The man snapped, striking Dougie again.

"Yes," Dougie whispered. "I'm ready."

"Alright. You can walk around as much as you want, there's nothing in the room to bump into aside from the water bottle in the corner. You get a water refill twice a day and food once a day. It will always be in the same corner and you will NOT need your sight for either. You are blindfolded because the rest of my men do not wish to wear masks any more than they have to. There is a camera in this room and if you remove any of the restraints we will know immediately and you will be punished accordingly. Select moments of your captivity will be isolated and sent to your band as motivation, so always be aware and do nothing stupid. You will receive bathroom breaks three times a day. Your friends have a week to pay your ransom before we dispose of you, is that clear?"

"Yes," Dougie nodded, gulping.

"Good." The man smirked, patting Dougie's bare shoulder. "Enjoy your time here." Dougie heard the door shut loudly as the man left, locking soon after, and he let out a deep sigh. He had always been afraid of the dark and this wasn't making things any easier. He wished that he could see something, anything, but the cloth was tied securely and he was afraid of what would happen to him – or worse, what would happen to Tom, Harry and Danny if he defied the wishes of his captor.

He pulled his knees to his chest, trying hard to keep his abduction as far from his mind as possible, but he couldn't push the memory back. He had been standing in the changing room pulling on his sneakers for the show when the door opened. One of the security guards came in and told him that there was an intruder and that he needed to be as quiet as possible. The next thing he knew there was a gun pointed at him and his wrists were being tied behind his back. He didn't want to be used as leverage – he didn't want his band to feel obligated to save him, but he knew that they would, after all, Tom had promised him. Dougie shivered again, wishing that the room were warmer, more friendly or comforting in _any _respect. He wondered how long it would be before he was rescued, but again, tried not to dwell on thoughts of rescue, instead letting himself resign to the fact that he was a captive, trapped alone in a cold, unfriendly prison.


	3. Chapter 3

Dougie had been in captivity for 16 hours when Tom and Danny began to fall apart. Harry was on the phone in the other room, working on figuring out the ransom, while Tom sat with Danny in the living room of the house they shared. Tom bit his lip as his fingers drummed on the arm of the sofa. He had seen the scared look in Dougie's eyes, he had seen the terror on the boys face and no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't get it out of his mind.

"You," Tom turned to Danny. "This is your fault – if you hadn't left him for Harry then you two would have been fooling around in the dressing rooms and he wouldn't have been alone!" Tom glared at his band mate angrily. "Dougie's missing because of you."

"Me?" Danny scoffed, shaking his head. "This is MY fault? That's rich!"

"What do you mean?" Tom asked.

"What do I mean?" Danny rolled his eyes. "Oh come ON! He wouldn't have been the baby if you hadn't HAD to have him for the band! We had our fair pick of bassists, but _no_, you just _had_ to have little Dougie, cute little Dougie Poynter from across the street, you liked his spunk."

"He's a good bassist!" Tom snarled. "You _know _that I made the right choice when I insisted it be him! He's half the reason that people listen to us, Danny – he's got the talent and the looks, people _like _him, unlike you!"

"People like me FINE, much better than you!" Danny hissed. "But none of that is going to matter if they kill Dougie because I will NEVER forgive and you and I both know that the band will be over, Fletcher."

"WILL YOU STOP? BOTH OF YOU!" Harry entered the room, throwing his phone onto the couch beside Tom, glaring back and forth between both boys. "If you could HEAR yourselves! You both care for Dougie and it's not the fault of either of you!" Harry sat down on the couch next to Tom and pulled Danny down on the other side of him. "Dougie isn't going to die, we're going to get him back alive – the money's already moving, it's just going to take a few days until we have it in the form that we need. Until then we need to stick together and not lose it, yeah?"

"But-" Danny began.

"No buts, Danny." Harry shook his head.

"I'm going to sleep." Danny stood up, shooting a last glare at Tom as he headed towards his bedroom.

"He's got the right idea," Harry said softly, turning to Tom. "You've not slept in almost 26 hours."

"I know." Tom shrugged. "But let's be realistic, I don't think that I could sleep if I wanted to – Dougie's a close friend, I can't stand knowing that he's not safe." Tom looked down, turning the ring that he wore on his right ring finger. "I never expected this to happen."

"Why would you have?" Harry shook his head. "Tom, there's nothing that you can do about it, alright? Dougie's going to be alright. The money's already in the works as I said before. Just check our email, see if we have anything from his captors and then try to sleep, ok? There's NyQuil in the medicine cabinet if you're having trouble, I know that's what I'll be taking."

"Shouldn't one of us be awake at all times?" Tom asked, biting his lip. "I mean, you know, just in case something should happen?"

"We can take shifts," Harry nodded. "But for now, you sleep, I'll stay awake."

"Check the email, yeah?" Tom asked, standing up. "Let me know if there's anything important, alright?"

"I will, go sleep, remember, NyQuil."

"Right." Tom nodded, leaving the living room while Harry pulled the computer to his lap. He checked the band email, half relieved to find nothing, half wishing there were some kind of confirmation that Dougie was unharmed. He plugged his headphones in, listening to music to try and calm himself down as he waited for either Danny or Tom to wake. This was going to be hard on all of them, and as much as he feared for Dougie's safety, his relationship with Danny was already a bit on the edge, this might push them over, and he didn't want to lose that. He also wondered if Dougie would be up for continuing in the band after all of this even if he was physically alright. Harry knew indirectly that things like this could mess people up emotionally and mentally and he was afraid that even if they got Dougie back safely he wouldn't be the same boy they had all known.

Harry felt selfish sitting there worrying about his relationship and his career when his friend was being held hostage, far from everything that he knew, but he couldn't help himself. Guilt surged through his body as he tried to push the selfish thoughts from his mind. He sat on the couch, music filling him with as much calm as was possible for almost four hours before anything happened. The computer beeped, alerting him of an email, and he was quickly pulled from his music induced trace.

**To: McFly ()**

**From: Dougs ()**

**Subject: HELP ME!!!**

Harry gulped as he read the subject line, hoping that by some force of luck Dougie had escaped and was emailing them for aid. He clicked open and let out a deep sigh.

**Body: Hello, boys.**

**Don't worry, your precious Dougie is still alive. Want proof? Download the attachment. This isn't an offer, it's an order, by the way – we can read if the file isn't opened, so pay close attention or the next thing will send will be a photograph of Dougie's dead body.**

**Just remember, six more days, boys. **

Harry bit his lip, downloading the file immediately in order to keep Dougie from harm. It took a couple of minutes, seeing as it was a video file, but once the download was complete it opened automatically. The first thing that Harry noticed was that there was no sound. The second thing that he noticed was that it was black and white and the third thing that he noticed was Dougie, sitting in the corner of a small, dark room, knees pulled to his chest with a chain around his ankle and ropes tying his wrists. He was blindfolded, and his body was shaking, shivering, really. His clothes had been swapped out for nothing more than a pair of sweatpants and from what Harry could see, the young bassist looked cold and scared.

"Hey," Danny walked into the room and Harry closed the file. "You been up this whole time?"

"Tom and I decided that we should take shifts," Harry nodded.

"Oh." Danny sat down next to Harry, putting his head on his boyfriend's shoulder. "You should go sleep, I'll take this shift."

"Ok." Harry nodded. "Just…one thing, they're using Dougie's email account to send us messages."

"Ok." Danny pulled his own computer from the coffee table and turned it on. "I'll wake you if there's anything important, other than that, just sleep, yeah?"

"Will do." Harry nodded, kissing Danny softly before heading to his room, hoping that Danny wouldn't open the video. Half of him didn't want his boyfriend to see Dougie in pain because it would hurt him, but the selfish half was afraid that if Danny saw Dougie like that, his heart would spill back out to the bassist and Harry would lose Danny; he didn't want that.


	4. Chapter 4

"Stand up." The door to Dougie's cell opened and someone entered. By the voice he could tell that it wasn't the same man who had taken him from the venue, but nonetheless, he did as he was told. "Don't' move," the voice instructed. Dougie stood still as the man unlocked the cuff on his ankle and grabbed him by his bound wrists. This was customary, as Dougie had realized, for the bathroom breaks. He was pulled down the hall and tossed into the small room where his wrists were untied and the blindfold removed. "You have ten minutes." The door slammed behind him and he knew what that meant. This was his shower break for the day – the regular breaks were five minutes long and they didn't free his wrists for those.

With a sigh, Dougie stripped off the pants and crawled under the cold water, washing himself quickly. He wouldn't have bothered, to be honest, if he thought that they wouldn't care, but the rules in this place seemed to be very strict, and doing as he was told was the only option that he saw. He also knew that the shower was the only safe place to cry; no one could hear him and no one could see him, meaning that he could let his tears fall and no one would know. The second he turned the water off, he wiped his eyes, slipping out of the small shower. He pulled the sweatpants back on, colder this time than the time before, and knocked on the door.

"You done?" the man asked, opening the door and securing the blindfold over Dougie's eyes. Dougie nodded, accepting the darkness as best he could.

"I'm not going to run," Dougie whispered as the man bound his wrists tightly in front of him, pulling him back towards the room.

"Oh we know." The man laughed dryly. "The restraints aren't for reassurance, they're for show. Your friends are more likely to hurry up with your ransom if you're tied up, we don't know why it is, but there's something about ropes and chains that expedite the process so much more than a simple locked room." Dougie could practically hear the man smirking as he spoke. "You know, everyone needs a little push sometimes." He shoved Dougie back into the cell, locking the chain back around his ankle.

"You've d-done this before?" Dougie asked, biting his lip nervously.

"What did you think?" The man laughed. "We don't get this good without practice! We're not the bad guys here, we're just the middlemen."

"What do you mean?" Dougie asked, frowning.

"Oh come on, I honestly don't give a FUCK who you are, all I know is the man who orchestrated YOUR abduction is giving us 40%."

"What?" Dougie shook his head in confusion. "I don't…I don't understand."

"We're hostage brokers, so to speak." The man grinned. "We don't pick the victims or make the plans, we just do the dirty work."

"That's twisted," Dougie whispered.

"Maybe, yeah," the man shrugged. "But it makes us a shit ton of cash." He smirked. "And in order to ensure that cash be delivered, we follow a very strict schedule."

"What?" Dougie bit his lip nervously as he sensed malice in the voice of his captor.

"It's time to put on a little show, give the boys back home something to cry over." Dougie didn't have time to wonder what that meant before he felt a fist connect with his jaw. He let out a cry of pain, working as hard as he could to keep his balance.

"Please stop," Dougie begged, hoping that he wouldn't be hit again.

"Sorry, can't. Gotta have something to send the boys to make them hurry up the money getting – if they don't meet their deadline, you're dead, they know that, but they should also know that the longer it takes, the worse off you will be when they get you back." The man signed his speech by kneeing Dougie painfully in the gut, knocking the wind out of him, laughing as the boy fell to the ground, gasping for breath.

"P-please," Dougie gasped, scooting backwards, quickly backing into the corner that he had been sitting in before the man had come. He held his bound hands out in front of him, trying to protect his exposed body as best he could, but the man just grabbed the ropes and yanked Dougie's hands above his head, kicking the boy painfully in the side. Dougie fell limp, but the man pulled him up by his wrists, forcing him to stand. He then let go of Dougie's arms, tightening his hand around Dougie's throat instead, holding him still while he punched him again.

Dougie recognized the metallic taste of blood enter his mouth after the second punch and gingerly licked his lower lip, inspecting the cut left by the fist. He had had a split lip before, but someone had always been around to help him deal with it – give him ice, sop up the blood with a towel, this time he was alone with only two choices – spit the blood or swallow it. He winced, choking slightly as he swallowed his own blood, feeling that his captor would only be more enraged if he were spit on. It tasted awful and Dougie was overwhelmed by the want to vomit, but he didn't, instead he endured a hard uppercut to his jaw.

"I think that's enough for now," the man spat, throwing Dougie back down to the hard floor of his cell. He crumpled as he hit the ground, closing himself into a tight ball, trying to keep his attacker from harming him anymore as he shook with pain and fear. He heard the man leave, locking the door behind him, and he wished that his body wasn't aching, wished that he was safe with Tom and Danny and Harry on the bus surrounded by the warmth and security that his friends and band mates provided him with.


	5. Chapter 5

_**A/N Hey guys, I'm so sorry that this took me so long! I've managed to catch the flu…so yeah, I'm REALLY sorry!**_

Dougie had been missing for 47 hours before Tom, Danny and Harry heard anything else about him. They received another email, this time while Tom was on duty with the computer. Danny was out at the shops getting groceries and Harry was in the other room cooking macaroni and cheese when he heard Tom call for him.

"HARRY!" he shouted. "THEY'VE SENT A VIDEO!" he cried. Harry switched the stove off and quickly made his way to the living room where Tom sat, the video open, reading to hit play. It was the same black and white as the last, but Dougie wasn't alone.

"I don't think I can do this," Tom whispered.

"We have to watch it." Harry reached over hitting the play button. The first thing that Tom noticed was that this one was NOT a silent film. The second thing he noticed was the man in the frame with Dougie punching the young bassist and the third thing was the cry of pain Dougie released as the fist caught his face. The first punch was followed by several more acts of violence against Dougie coupled with whimpers, cries and pleas to stop from the boy.

As they watched the video, Harry grew increasingly more angry, though he did his best to keep it hidden, while Tom sat quietly, a tear rolling silently down his cheek. Once the man left Dougie alone and in pain, the video stopped and Tom slammed the laptop shut.

"I just wish that we had a way to tell him," Tom whispered. "A way to let him know that we're coming for him."

"He knows." Harry sat down on the couch beside Tom. "He knows in his heart, where it counts, that we would never abandon him to suffer through that and he certainly knows that we would never just let him die."

"They're hurting him." Tom barely breathed the words, gulping as they left his mouth.

"I know." Harry nodded, reaching out to give Tom's shoulder a comforting squeeze. "Dougie's a strong lad, he'll he ok in the long run; you and I both know that a few crapes and split lips never stopped Dougie Poynter."

"I can't stop wondering if Danny's right." Tom ran his fingers through his hair. "If I'd just gone through an audition for a bassist like a normal band instead of recruiting the feisty neighbor boy then Dougie would be safe right now."

"We all would be," Harry shrugged, "because we would still be flat broke and trying to get a gig – Dougie's a ton of our energy, a big part of why we even made it, Tom, and you know how much he loves to play those huge shows. I guarantee you that Dougie isn't in that room wishing he'd never joined the band, Tom. I don't think that he would want to trade all of those great times and experiences for anything, even his safety at the moment." Harry offered Tom a kind smile. "Danny's scared, just like you and I are, Tom; he said those things out of fear, not out of seriousness or honesty."

"Yeah, but I mean he isn't wrong – it's a very indirect blame, but if I hadn't insisted we take Dougie, then he wouldn't be in this situation." Tom bit his lip, almost _wanting _to take the blame for Dougie's abduction just so that he would be able to make some sense of how something so awful could be happening to someone like Dougie.

"I guess," Harry admitted. "But if you're looking it like that then you're blaming Danny wasn't wrong either – if they were still together then you're right, they would have been together in the changing room and it would be you or I in that situation. Or you could blame it on me; if I hadn't told Danny how I felt about him then he would still have been with Dougie and again, it would have been you or me in Dougie's shoes." Harry shrugged. "Tom, no matter what, if you look hard enough, you can find a way to blame anyone for what's happened – even Dougie; going around pointing fingers, even at yourself, isn't going to do any good."

"I guess you're right." Tom let out a deep sigh as he spoke, his breath shaking as he tried not to let another tear fall. "God, you don't know how much I wish it _could _be me in his place." He cast his eyes downwards, avoiding eye contact with Harry. "I feel like the pain and fear for him that I'm feeling can't be any better than the physical that's weighing on him, Harry, I can't bear to see him hurt like that."  
"That's your curse, Tom Fletcher," Harry said quietly. "There are just some people that you feel for more than yourself and when _they're_ in pain it's as though it's _your _world that's ending. It seems to you that it would be easier for _you _to be in Dougie's place, taking the beatings and facing the unknown all by yourself, but would it be better for him? Would it be harder for him to watch you take the beatings or to take them himself?"

"To watch," Tom insisted. "There's no way that he could feel worse watching me than I do him. I don't know how to explain it, and as cruel as it sounds, Harry, if it were you I don't think that I'd feel quite this awful. Dougie's our baby, even though he's never needed it I still feel like it's my duty to protect him…and this time, the one time he needed me to save him, I couldn't."

"What could you have done? Any movement would have gotten him killed." Harry shrugged. "Don't worry, I don't blame you for feeling especially protective of Dougie, we all are."

"I…" Tom bit his lip, looking up again, but not focusing on Harry. "I think that…I think that I might have feelings for Dougie, Harry, feelings that stem past friendship."

"Oh." Harry nodded slowly. "When did you figure this out?"

"The night he was taken," Tom sighed. "It's like it's putting perspective on things and now all that I can do is think about how I'm positive that I couldn't ever move on if something were to happen to him. I mean it's like I've been repressing thoughts, acting as though I had all of the time in the world to act on them; and I mean it's not like he's even past Danny yet. I'm afraid that I'll never see him again and I'll just spend my whole life wondering how I really feel about him."

"I honestly don't know what to say to that," Harry admitted.

"Just…just tell me that it's going to be ok?" Tom asked quietly.

"It's going to be ok," Harry nodded, putting an arm around Tom. "I promise you, it's going to be ok."


	6. Chapter 6

_**WARNING: This chapter contains the violent act of nonconsensual sex – if you don't like that or don't think that you can handle it, I advise against reading this!**_

This time when the door to his cell opened, Dougie didn't even look up. The instinct had worn off – it didn't matter if he did look up because he saw nothing. He heard footsteps walking over to him and he bit down on his lip, hoping that they weren't going to hurt him. The man stopped in front of Dougie and grabbed him by his bound wrists, pulling him into a standing position.

"Don't panic," the man said. From the voice, Dougie could tell that this was a third man, not one of the other two that he had already dealt with. "Do this right," he hissed, "and we won't have to do it again."

"Do what?" Dougie whispered, trying to figure out what the hell the man wanted him to do.

"Just put on a good show and don't ask questions, I'll take care of the rest." The man's voice was cold and it made Dougie more and more uncomfortable with every word. "This," the man put his hand on Dougie's shoulder, lowering his voice to a whisper as he ran the hand down Dougie's bicep and over to his chest, "is a gorgeous tattoo."

"Don't touch me," Dougie tried, attempting to pull away from the man despite the fact that he was sure he didn't have any say in the matter – he was the prisoner, if this man wanted to touch him, there was very little that Dougie could do to stop him.

"I'll do as I please with you, boy!" The man hissed, smacking Dougie in the face. "What part of 'you are OUR prisoner and we can do anything that we please with and to you' do you have difficulty understanding?"

"I'm sorry," Dougie whispered.

"Well sorry isn't good enough," the man spat. "You're going to do as I say, struggle all you want, I'll get you in the end, do you understand me?"

"Yes," Dougie whispered quietly, trying to gulp back his own fears and insecurities. "I understand."

"Good." The man ran his hand roughly up Dougie's chest, being sure to touch as much of the boy as possible with his rough hands. Dougie tried to pretend that he couldn't feel the man touching him, pretended that he didn't care, but this was so different than feeling the pain of a beating. He was scared, wondering what these touches would potentially lead to, what kind of horrible thing would happen to him next. He felt the man's hands travel down, resting on his hips for a few seconds, pressing into his skin and hipbones tightly. Dougie let out a muffled cry, trying to stifle his own tears, but he could feel it none the less – the salty water already beginning to soak his blindfold as a man that he couldn't even see began to feel him through the black sweatpants.

"Please," Dougie whimpered, shivering at the touch though the hand wasn't even on his skin. "Please don't do this to me – I'll do anything."

"You're right," the man hissed. "You WILL do anything, including this. You don't have a say in the matter, so just take it why don't you? You have no way out, you never have, you never will so just let me take what I came for – the better you are about it, the sooner it will end, or did you not think of that?" The man's fingers had moved from his crotch and were now playing with the waistband of the sweats almost tauntingly.

"Fine," Dougie whispered, hurt radiating in his voice. "Just finish the job." He bit his lip, trying not to think about what was happening to him as the man turned him around, pushing his chest up against the freezing cold wall of the room. Dougie let out a loud whimper as cold, hard contact with his prison shot pain through his body. He wanted to be home in his own bed with his friends, his band, but every time that these men hurt him, he felt that drift further and further away.

The young bassist cringed as he felt the man's hands slowly pull down the sweatpants. His entire body felt cold and exposed – a feeling which was only worsened as the man put his hands all over – feeling Dougie's legs, his ass, his back, just _trying _to make him feel discomfort, just trying to hurt him. He couldn't deny it, he was scared. He'd had sex before, even with a guy, but Danny had been so different – Danny had taken him slowly, touching Dougie gently, making sure that Dougie knew _exactly _what he was doing before it was done, this man was nothing like that.

Suddenly, the man pushed into him and it was pain like nothing Dougie had ever felt before. The man went in dry and unprotected, leaving Dougie to feel more vulnerable and scared even, then before. He felt as though his entire body was being split apart, as though someone were trying to rip him in two and there was nothing, not a thing that he could do to stop it from happening. He let out a loud shriek of pain at the contact, not even trying to keep his tears back now. He bit down on his lip as he cried in pain, trying hard not to focus on the way that his body felt at the moment, trying not to focus solely on the pain.

As the man began to push inside of him, the pain began to increase. It was nothing like with Danny – yes, initial entry would always cause pain for him, but Danny had managed to make it feel nice, pleasurable, easily worth the initial pain, but the way that this man was taking him made him positive that he had never been physically hurt more by anything. He whimpered, unable to gain any form of pleasure from this attack, trying to get through it, waiting, praying for it to be over. He felt the man come inside of him, leaving the residue of a memory that he really, _really _didn't want. The man then pulled out of him and Dougie struggled with his bound wrists to pull up the sweats.

"Good boy," the man let out a cold laugh. "You weren't a bad fuck, I was wrong about you." He turned, leaving Dougie to collapse on the ground feeling completely broken and completely alone.


	7. Chapter 7

_**A/N Again, sorry for the delay – the Martian Death Flu got worse and I ended up living a few days in the Wellness Center – but I'm OUT now, and writing/posting for you!**_

"Harry, we need to talk," Danny whispered, knocking softly on the door to Harry's room. Harry stood, opening the door and taking Danny's hand, leading him over to the bed. "Harry, I'm not sure what's going to happen when we get Dougie back."

"None of us are," Harry bit his lip. "Look, we'll get through this, Danny, I promise." Harry leaned in to kiss Danny.

"Harry, no." Danny shook his head, pulling away. "I haven't said yet what it is I need to say, ok? What I need to say is that when Dougie gets and he needs me, I'm going to be there for him…" Danny looked down. "With him."

"What are you saying?" Harry frowned. "Danny…"

"Harry, if I need to be with Dougie then I can't be with you. I know that it's not fair to you and really, I am sorry, but if I'm what Dougie needs then I won't let him down."

"Danny, do you still love him?" Harry frowned, trying to hide how much he was hurt by what Danny was saying.

"Harry, I-"

"I asked you a simple question, Danny." Harry bit his lip. "There are two answers, yes or no. Yes means that you've been with me under false pretenses and no means that you'll be leaving me under them."

"I'm not in love with him," Danny whispered. "I'm in love with you, but if he needs to think that I love him then I will let him think that." Danny lay back on the bed. "Harry, this isn't easy for me, if that's what you're thinking – in fact, this is one of the hardest decisions that I've had to make, but Dougie's been kidnapped, alright? He's been held for ransom and I don't know how he could possible be ok mentally after that."

"So you think that he'll need you?" He frowned. "Danny, I know that he's going to be messed up but I don't think that you're what he needs – you're not the only person who cares about Dougie, ok?" He sighed. "He's a good friend of mine and Tom…Tom has feelings for him, so please, Danny, let _Tom _be there for him, because I need you, ok? And if you love me then you need me too…and you wouldn't hurt all of us. Eventually, Dougie would realize that you didn't really love him and everyone would be in pain."

"Wait, Tom fancies Dougie?" he frowned.

"Yeah, but don't say that I said anything because -"

"HARRY!" Tom screamed from the front room. "DANNY! COME RIGHT NOW!"

"Shit," Harry scrambled off of the bed, Danny right behind him. They ran to the living room, following Tom's cries. "What's wrong, what is it?" Harry asked, skidding to a stop at the couch.

"Video," Tom pointed, his face whiter than a fresh coat of snow.

"Have you watched it yet?" Harry asked, biting his lip.

"No," Tom shook his head. "But look at the damn thumbnail," he bit his lip. Harry looked down at the picture on the video. Dougie was still in his room, standing with a man in front of him. The man's hand rested on the colorful tattoo on Dougie's chest. "I don't want to hit play."  
"We have to watch it…" Harry said. "They'll know if we don't."

"I can't," Tom shook his head. "You watch it – please. I'm afraid of what that is."

"Fine." Harry picked up the laptop and carried it to his room, leaving Tom and Danny alone. His expression grew more and more pained as the video went on, turning away as the video ran. "Oh god…" he whispered. Once the video was done, he closed the laptop, took it back to the living room, handed it back to Tom and ran to the bathroom, promptly kneeling at the toilet and throwing up everything that he had eaten in the last few hours.

"Harry," Danny walked up behind his boyfriend, rubbing his back and handing him a towel to wipe his mouth with. "Harry, what is it?"

"It's everything that Tom was afraid of," Harry looked up, tears in his eyes feeling extremely guilty for worrying that Dougie would steal Danny away from him.

"What do you mean?" Tom asked from the doorway, his face still the pale white it had been when he handed the computer over to Harry.

"Tom…" Harry bit his lip. "Dougie's going to be really, really fucked up when gets back…" Harry whispered.

"Oh god." Tom slid down the wall, joining Harry and Danny on the floor, tears streaming down his cheeks. "Get the damned money moved," he whispered. "FUCKING MOVE IT NOW! WE NEED TO GET HIM OUT OF THERE!"

"Tom," Danny put his arm around Tom. "We're working on it, we're moving the money as fast as we can, alright? It's going to be around as soon as possible and then we'll get Dougie back."

"We'll get him help, Tom," Harry bit his lip. "We'll get him the best help that money can buy and everything is going to be ok in the long run."

"Everything is going to be ok?" Tom asked, frowning as he stood up. "EVERYTHING IS GOING TO BE OK?" he shouted. "NO, IT'S NOT! DID YOU NOT SEE WHAT HAPPENED? UNLESS YOU AND I ARE ON DIFFERENT WAVE LENGTHS, DOUGIE'S BEEN MISSING FOR 76 HOURS AND NOW HE'S BEEN RAPED!"

"Tom," Harry stood up. "Please calm down…please." He bit his lip. "We're doing all that we can to help him and us freaking out at each other is not going to help. When Dougie comes home he is going to need a strong, solid support system so here's what's going to happen." Harry took a deep breath. "Danny, you and I are going to cool it down, not flaunt ANYTHING that we have in front of Dougie. Tom, you've got to stop blowing up at everyone and trying to point fingers, even if it's at yourself. And me? I'll help you both – we all have to focus 100 percent of our attention on making Dougie better and if that means letting you go," he turned to Danny, "then that's what it means." Harry reached for Danny's hand, pulling him up and pulling both of his friends into a hug.

"I'm sorry," Tom whispered. "I just…I can't believe that they would do this to him."

"These aren't good people," Danny whispered. "But Harry's right, if we stick together, we can help Dougie."

"I think that I need to go lie down." Tom pulled away, heading towards his room. He pulled the blankets up around him and cried softly. He wished now more than ever that he were in Dougie's place. The young bassist had been so innocent, so trusting of people, so fun loving and Tom was so scared that when they got Dougie back everything that he loved about the boy would be gone.


	8. Chapter 8

_**Author's Note: Ok, so after all of my makeup work from being sick AND having to do my transfer applications for college AND trying to get past minor heartbreak, I FINALLY think that I'm ok to write again! So here is the next chapter - I am SO SORRY for the delay and I hope that the next one is NOWHERE NEAR as long.**_

Dougie lay on the floor of his cell, his body completely drained, aching all over. The food and water from the day before had been left untouched and the shower that they had forced upon him had made him feel neither comforted nor clean. At all. He was still cold from the freezing shower and his blindfold was still soaked with the tears that he couldn't seem to stop crying. He couldn't decide which feeling was worse – the freezing, the pain from the beatings, the pain from what the man had done to him or the fear of never getting out alive.

He had been holding on to the warmth and comfort of his band, of his friends; he had been holding onto the memory of Danny's touch but today, as he lay on the floor, shivering, he could no longer remember how it felt to be held, to be loved. With the loss of comfort came on overwhelming feeling of hopelessness and he let out a whimper of fear. He knew somewhere, deep down in his heart that Danny, Harry and Tom would do anything to protect him, that they would pay whatever sum was asked of them, but somehow he felt that if they were going to help him then they would never have let things get this far.

Granted, Dougie had been far from innocence at the time of his abduction – when he had been with Danny there had been no hesitation in moving forward, but this was different, this wasn't with someone who cared about him, someone who cared back. This man had hurt him, really hurt him, and Dougie did not know what to make of it. He knew that he was being irrational in his thoughts, but somehow he couldn't stop wondering if Danny's goal all along had been to hurt him the way that this man had. He wondered if he was doomed to this for the rest of his life – shivering alone in some cold prison where he couldn't even see his surroundings. He didn't want to think that Danny, Harry and Tom would let this happen, but with each passing second, he felt more and more hopeless.

He let out a loud cough, wracking his entire shivering body. The single cough turned into a fit and he found himself doubled over, knees to his chest, trying to get the coughs in control. He felt sick, sicker than he'd felt in a long time, and he wasn't sure whether it was from the lack of proper nutrients and the cold showers or just the fact that he had given up, resigned to a life all alone, never knowing when the opening door would be the person coming to end his life. That had been the deal, after all, his friends were to pay or he would be killed, and he didn't feel that – if theses people were who they said they were, that they would be terribly happy about him wasting a cell for any longer than absolutely necessary.

Dougie fell into a rough sleep, not knowing how much more of this could take, wondering how much more he would have to before the people holding the keys to his fate finally decided that his time was up. He hated not being in control of his own life, but he had let it catch up to him – this WAS really happening and there wasn't a thing that he could do to get out of it, no matter how hard he tried, no matter how many tears he cried or how many loud, violent, dry coughs wracked his body.

_

"Hopefully this will be the last one we have to send," one of his captors said as he finished isolating a video of Dougie coughing violently amidst his tears. "We don't have much more to give 'em before we take this kid out back."

"I have a feeling that they're going to come through," the man in charge smirked as he watched the other man hit send on the fourth video. "They're watching the videos and I can't assume that their reactions are very good, especially considering the past that their front man has with little Dougie.

"What do you mean, sir?" the man sitting in front of the computer frowned. "They're all friends, are they not?"

"Friends, yes," the man smirked. "But let's just say that our…third attempt to rock the boat is going to sting a little extra for Daniel Jones, seeing as he's done the same thing to Dougie, just under different pretenses, claiming he loved him.

"How do you even know this stuff?" the man at the computer laughed, almost congratulating the other man on his villainy.

"We have to research a victim before we attack, it would only be right! That way we know just how hard to hit them where.

"Well if what you're saying is true, than I assume we've hit the jackpot here with that last little video, they probably won't even need this one."

"I dunno," the man shrugged, a smirk in place on his face. "There's something about watching your best friend – or your ex, in Danny's case, dying along all tied up."

"I can see how that would go a long way," the other man nodded.

"Just make sure the video gets watched – I have a feeling that our time babysitting little Dougie Poynter is nearly up." The man walked from the room, heading to the basement and opening the door to Dougie's cell. "Well Dougie, how are you feeling today?" he asked coldly. Dougie didn't reply, he just shook a little harder, hoping that this man wouldn't come any nearer to him. "I see that you haven't eaten your meal for the day, now Dougie, I don't think that's very wise of you – we wouldn't want to send you back home underfed, now would we?"

"I'm – I'm never going home," Dougie whispered. "They're not coming for me."

"Oh, little Dougie, what makes you say that?" the man asked, faking a kind tone that made Dougie's blood run cold.

"They wouldn't have let this happen to me if they were going to help me. If they were going to come for me, they would have come already."  
"Oh but Dougie, they didn't know what was going to happen – they'll be paying soon I should think, you know, to ensure that it doesn't happen again."

"A-again?" Dougie whimpered, scared more of the man who sexually attacked him returning than the men who had beat him up.

"Well yes! Of course! The longer they take to pay, the more you go through, that's how it works!"

"If it happens again," Dougie whispered, his voice almost venomous. "I won't feel a thing, you won't get what you want out of it."

"Oh shut up," the man grabbed Dougie by his restraints and pulled him up against the wall, slamming his forehead against the wall, almost laughing as the boy collapsed to the ground, unconscious.


	9. Chapter 9

"Guys?" Danny called out to Danny and Harry. Dougie had been gone for 93 hours and the money was nearing their possession.

"What's up Danny?" Harry asked, entering the room just behind Tom.

"I think Dougs may be ill," Danny sighed, turning the computer around to show them the video. Dougie was lying down, his back pressed against the wall, coughing and shaking like they had never seen before.

"Oh no…" Tom shook his head. "Poor thing; just look at him! He looks dreadful."

"I know," Harry nodded, putting his arm comfortingly around Tom. "But look, I talked to the bank today, the money's nearly ready, alright? Should only be a few more hours."

"Yeah," Tom sighed. "A few more hours that Dougie is going to be in pain, alone, thinking that we're not doing enough for him."

"You don't know if he's thinking that," Danny snapped. "He's going to be ok and he knows that; I'm sure of it. Dougie isn't the scared little boy that you seem to think he is! Dougie's tough, he's a fighter and he knows that we wouldn't let anything bad happen to him."

"Anything bad?" Tom frowned. "Danny, we already DID! Dougie has been beaten and tortured in ways that you and I can't even fathom! When we get him back he may not even be the same Dougie that we knew."

"This isn't the movies," Danny shook his head. "He'll be ok!"

"We don't know that," Tom whispered, standing up and heading back to his room. More than anything he wanted Danny to be right, but he was afraid to hope for that; even movies base some things in truth and he was terrified that Dougie was going to be traumatized.

-

"Hey," Harry knocked on Tom's door a couple of hours later. "The money's here."

"It is?" Tom sat up quickly.

"Yeah," Harry nodded. "Danny just sent them an email telling them that we had it and that we wanted Dougie back as soon as possible."

"Have we heard back yet?" Tom asked, sliding off of the bed. He knew that he sounded apprehensive, nervous even.

"We just sent the email," Harry shook his head. "But it shouldn't be long now." Tom followed Harry back into the living room, and they sat back on the couch, Danny between them with the computer on his lap, waiting for what seemed like hours before the email came.

**To: McFly ()**

**From: Dougs ()**

**Subject: RE: Payoff.**

**Congratulations boys!**

**You want Dougie, ONE of you come to the Kings Bridge at 2 o'clock this morning. If ANY police or even a single person more come with you or know about this, we will kill Dougie on the spot. Remember, he's not safe until he's in your hands and the money is in ours. Don't reply, just show up. **

**It's been a pleasure doing business with you. **

"One of us?" Danny shut the computer, sighing. "I'm going."

"What?" Harry and Tom said together.

"It's my duty to him." Dan set the laptop on the coffee table. "I spent more time with Dougie than either of you two and he loved me…I loved him. He's comfortable around me and I know that he trusts me. If he needs me, I'm going to be there for him."

"I'm going," Tom shook his head. "You dumped him, you broke his heart and as well as you two parted, I don't think that he needs the first person he sees who is trying to help him be someone who broke his heart. I'm not trying to insult you at all, I think you're a great person Danny, but I think that Dougie needs his best friend right now."

"His best friend who has a crush on him!" Danny objected. "You've got a Jones for Poynter and I don't trust you to do the right thing!"

"Danny," Harry put his hand on his boyfriend's shoulder. "This isn't a fight, alright? You KNOW that Tom would never do anything to hurt Dougie. He can keep his feelings back, this is about Dougie and giving him the help that he needs. I know that, you know that and Tom knows that."

"You agree with him?" Danny asked, his voice soft. "You think that Tom should be the one to go?"

"I do." Harry nodded. "I think that Tom is the person that Dougie needs right now. Tom's kind, caring and he's who Dougie went to whenever the two of you had a fight – he's the best friend Dougie has and I think that's what's important."

"We're all Dougie's best friend," Tom interjected.

"We are," Danny agreed "But in different ways. I guess Harry's right, you are the person Dougie goes to when he's upset and I can't think of a reason why you shouldn't go." Danny cast his head down. He wanted to be the person that Dougie went to but the person that Dougie needed was Tom.

"So I'll go?" Tom asked, biting his lip. He looked around at his two friends. Danny was eyeing the ground and scuffing his feet, unsure of what to do or what to say while Harry stood tall, nodding, firm and decisive in his choice.

"It should be Tom," Harry said again.

"Yeah," Danny looked up, sighing as he eyed Tom. "Harry's right, you should go."

"Ok." Tom nodded. "God…I'm so scared."

"You should be," Harry agreed. "This is a big responsibility and it's going to be frightening, but it's Dougie, so you can do it."

"Yeah," Tom nodded again. "I know that I can – I just don't want to have to wait three hours to do it."

"I know," Harry patted him on the back. "We all want him back now, but after a hundred and twelve hours waiting, what's three more?"

"Have you really been counting?" Tom asked, biting his lip.

"Of course," Harry nodded. "I have to do something to keep from freaking out."

"I almost can't believe that we're going to let these guys get away with all that they've one to Dougie," Danny sighed.

"We don't have a choice." Harry shook his head. "We're letting them get away because if we don't, they'll kill him and we can't risk that just to try and get the guys who did this to him. They clearly know what they're doing."

"Yeah," Tom put his arms around both of his friends, pulling them into a hug. "We're gonna get through this. Together."

"We are," Danny agreed. The boys sat down, waiting nervously for the time when Tom would leave.


	10. Chapter 10

_**Author's Note: Yeah, I know, it's been forever and a day, but recently I've been getting pressured to finish this story, so here it is, I'm going to try and get to the end of this!

* * *

**_

Tom gripped the steering wheel of his car as he drove towards the bridge. He anxiously looked over at the duffle bag next to him that housed the money, and he took a deep breath, trying to stay as calm as possible. He had no idea what to expect from the men who had taken Dougie and he didn't know if he would be able to handle the sight of his broken friend. He checked his watch as he pulled onto the cement blacktop near the base of the bridge. It was 1:59. He theoretically had one minute before he would be able to get Dougie back, before the men who had taken him would be there, and all that he could do as he sat there, waiting, was hope that everything would go smoothly.

He was pulled from his thoughts a few seconds later as another car pulled into the lot. He got out immediately, gym back in hand, standing outside of his car while the sleek black compact pulled up in front of his, only a foot between the fronts of the two cars. He clutched the bag handles tightly, praying that Dougie was going to be alright.

"Don't move." A man got out of the compact and walked around to the trunk. The man was masked and Tom knew from his voice that it was not the same man who had abducted Dougie. Tom did as he was told, heart pounding as he remained standing, the weight of his body leaning on the core of his car for support. He watched in apprehensive silence as the man opened up the trunk and pulled Dougie out almost effortlessly. Tom's breath hitched as he saw his friend. The boy was wearing the same thing that he had been in the videos and the night was cold, so Tom knew that he must be freezing. His wrists were tied behind his back, there was a knotted rag through his mouth and the same, dark blindfold over his eyes.

Dougie let out a whimper as the man jerked him roughly, holding Dougie close to his chest as he pressed a gun to the bassist's temple and Tom could hear him coughing through the gag. He could tell just by looking at Dougie that the boy was weak.

"I have the money," Tom offered, his voice quiet as he held up the bag. "It's all here, you can check just – just don't hurt him anymore than you already have." Dougie's head turned as Tom spoke as though he was trying to look up at the young man.

"Kick the bag over to me."

"And you'll give me Dougie?" He asked, tentatively setting the bag down on the ground.

"And I'll give you Dougie." The man nodded, jerking the boy again.

"Fine." Tom bit his lip as he kicked the bag a few feet towards the man. The man dragged Dougie forwards and stopped at the bag. He kept the gun on Dougie as he opened the bag, nodded as he eyed the cash. Suddenly, without warning, he picked the bag up with one hand and tossed Dougie forcefully into Tom, almost knocking the boy over.

"Now get out of here before I change my mined and shoot you both," the man hissed.

Tom didn't waste any time rushing Dougie into the car. He put the boy in the passenger's seat and got in himself, starting the car and driving two blocks away as fast as he could. He stopped and leaned over towards Dougie. He yanked the gag from the boy's mouth and tore off the blindfold.

"Dougie," he whispered, putting on hand on the boy's chin. "Dougie, it's me – you're safe now. Can you look at me?" Dougie let out a soft whimper, but didn't say anything. Tom took a deep breath before reaching into the glove box of the car, pulling out a pocket knife. He used the knife to slice the ropes binding Dougie and pulled his arms around to the boy's side gently. "You're going to be ok," he whispered as he took off his own jacket, throwing it over Dougie's bare chest.

Dougie didn't say anything as he curled up on the seat, pulling the jacket around him tightly. Tom pulled out his cell phone dialed Harry's number with shaking hands.

"Tom?" he asked. "Tom, what's happened? Is everything ok? Is Dougie ok?"

"I don't know," Tom responded. "I have him, he's alive, but Harry…he's fucked up. I'm taking him to the hospital, meet me there." With that, Tom hung up the phone and started the car again, looking fleetingly at Dougie as he did so. They were closer to the hospital than Danny and Harry were, so they got there in minutes flat, Dougie coughing harshly the whole way. Tom parked as close as he could to the Emergency Room and went around to the passenger's seat.

"Dougie?" Tom whispered. "Dougie, you're at the hospital, I'm going to carry you inside, alright?" He felt the need to talk the boy through things, as his friend seemed to be destroyed both inside and out. "I don't want to hurt you," he whispered. "So tell me if I am, ok?"

"T-tom?" Dougie asked, the words leaving his voice in a small, quiet whisper.

"Yeah, Dougie." Tom nodded, picking the boy up gently. "You're safe now, you really are, I promise." He held the boy close as he walked towards the doors, glad that Dougie was alive, but heartbroken at the state that his friend was in. He carried the boy up to the desk and looked pleadingly at the woman. "My name is Tom Fletcher, this is Dougie Poynter and he is very, very sick, you have to help him RIGHT now."

"Calm down and tell me what's wrong?" The nurse said.

"He's freezing, he has a horrible cough, he's been beat up and someone's…someone's raped him. Please…he needs care NOW," Tom practically shouted.

"My goodness!" The woman's eyes widened and she stood up. "I'll get you a doctor immediately."

"Thank you," Tom nodded as the nurse ran off. "Did you hear that?" he looked down at Dougie. "You're going to be fine, just like I promised; they're going to take care of you – I'm going to take care of you."


	11. Chapter 11

_**A/N: Alright! Here's chapter 11 - sorry, it's not very good. :(

* * *

**_

"Hello, I'm Doctor Ellington." A young man walked up to them. "We have an emergency, I see." He eyed Dougie, his expression displaying concern.

"Yes," Tom nodded. "His name's Dougie – you have to help him; I'm not sure what's wrong, but please," Tom begged, clearly near tears. "He has to be ok."

"It's alright – I'll take care of him, I promise." The doctor looked sincere and Tom let out a deep breath. "Why don't you give him to me and I'll get started checking him over."

"Thank you," Tom nodded, moving to pass Dougie over to Dr. Ellington. However, the second the man held his arms out to take the boy, Dougie began to panic. He clung to Tom, holding him tightly as he began to scream.

"PLEASE!" He shouted. "Tom, don't let them take me! Not again, please! You said that I would be ok! Don't let them take me…please!" Tears streamed down Dougie's cheeks as he begged Tom not to let go of him.

"Dougie," Tom whispered. "Dougie, this isn't a bad man, he's not going to hurt you. He's a doctor, you're sick and he's going to help make you better, I promise – he _wants_ to help you."

"I can't go with him," Dougie sobbed. "Really, I can't. You can't let go of me. I won't be safe…please!"

"Can I stay with him?" Tom asked, looking up at the doctor.

"Are you his brother?" Dr. Ellington asked.

"I'm his best friend," Tom bit his lip. "I'm the closest thing he has right here, right now; he's messed up, can't you see that?"

"If you're not family-"

"I can't go anywhere without him!" Dougie cried, clinging to Tom tighter still as he interrupted the doctor.

"You're his cousin," Dr. Ellington stated, seeing that Dougie wouldn't go without Tom.

"Thank you," Tom let out a deep breath as he carried Dougie towards a private room. He stayed with Dougie, holding the boy's hand as the doctor cleaned him up and ran tests. They were informed that Harry and Danny had arrived while Dougie's blood was being drawn and Tom let out a sigh of relief, glad to have a support system.

"Ok, Dougie," Dr. Ellington spoke down to the boy, trying to be as gentle as possible. "We're going to give you something to help you sleep – it's strong, so you won't have any dreams."

Dougie didn't say anything. He just nodded ever so slightly, clutching Tom's hand as they changed his drip. Tom looked sadly at Dougie as he watched the boy drift from consciousness. When he was sure that the boy was asleep, he reached out, brushing some of the hair from Dougie's eyes. Even broken, the boy was beautiful and as Tom gazed at him, chest rising and falling in artificial sleep. He worried that he would never be able to tell Dougie how he felt.

"Tom?" Dr. Ellington spoke as he entered the room.

"What?" Tom asked, his voice and body tired as he turned around.

"I can let your friends in now," Dr. Ellington offered. "If you think that would be a good idea, that is."

"Of course," Tom nodded. "We're all a part of this together – we're a family."

"Alright," Dr. Ellington nodded. "I'll show them back right away." Dr. Ellington disappeared, returning a few seconds later with Danny and Harry in tow.

"How is he?" Harry asked as he and Danny pulled up chairs next to Tom.

"Broken," Tom whispered. "They've got me pretending to be his cousin just so that I can stay with him because he started to scream and panic when they tried to take him."

"Oh god," Danny sighed. "He looks…he looks so dead."

"He's just sleeping." Tom bit his lip. "I think…I think he's more damaged than we thought. He was looking at me and his eyes – there was no light, it was all fear." Tom gulped. "Sheer terror. He barely spoke but to scream and he seems so damaged."

"He'll be ok." Danny reached out, putting a hand on Tom's shoulder. "He's safe now. He's with us and he's going to make it through this; we're all here to make sure of that."

"Yeah," Tom gulped, crying softly. "But they were so mean to him – so cruel, what if he's never okay again?"

"He may never be the way that he was," Harry bit his lip. "After all, his innocence is gone, and there's nothing that we can do about that, but Danny's right as well." Harry paused. "He has a strong support system and we will do everything in our power to make him whole again."

"I guess you're right," Tom whispered, resting his head on Harry's shoulder. "I guess that I had just hoped that I would get him away from those guys and I would have my Dougie back – our Dougie back."

"We all hoped for that," Danny nodded. "But he's hurt and it's going to take all of our time and energy to help him."

"I'm so in love with him," Tom admitted. "He's lying there, so fucked up and all I want to do is give him _everything _and I can't even tell him how I feel because it would make everything worse."

"I'm sorry," Danny whispered. "I'm sorry for what I said to you, for what I said about you and I'm sorry that you have to keep your feelings back, I know that can't be an easy thing for you to do."

"I'm sorry too," Tom bit his lip. "But all of that is in the past now, yeah?" Tom asked.

"Of course." Danny nodded. "Now everything, absolutely everything, needs to be about helping Dougie as best we can."

"I know." Tom nodded. "I'm with you on that one." He offered Danny a weak smile.

"We're all together in this," Harry nodded. "Now let's take a leaf out of Dougie's book and sleep so that when he wakes up, we ca be there for him."

"I…" Tom bit his lip. "I don't think that I'm going to be able to sleep right now, just look at him. He's so frail and helpless." Tom looked down. "What if he's thinking about it all? I mean I know that the doctor said that the drug would keep dreams away, but what if it's not working?"

"He wouldn't be lying still," Harry said, his voice as reassuring as the hand rubbing Tom's back. "He's peaceful right now, Tom, I promise."

"Ok." Tom nodded. "I…I guess that we could try and sleep then. I mean he'll wake us, I'm sure, when he gets up. Or the doctor will."

"Of course," Harry nodded, tipping Tom's head onto his shoulder. "Now try to sleep. Danny, you too. We could all use a little rest." Danny nodded and all three boys closed their eyes, falling into the first sleep they had gotten while knowing that Dougie was finally safe.


End file.
